Paying it Forward

What do you do with the stuff you no longer want or need?

Do you just throw it away? Do you sell it? Do you donate it? Do you put it on the curb with a ‘FREE’ sign?

A couple of years ago, my parents moved out of the home they had lived in for 54 years and into a Retirement Community. Because they were elderly, my siblings and I emptied out their house for them. (This is the house that my husband and I bought and are currently remodeling for ourselves.)

You can imagine what all had been accumulated in 54 years!

We donated all the usable clothing and household items to local charities. I think we donated what amounted to 6 truckloads.

But when it came to their furniture, we thought it would be a good idea to try to sell it.

So I posted everything on Craigslist.

The 1980’s style of the pieces is not what is on-trend right now. But everything was good quality and in excellent condition.

And our prices were very reasonable. Like $15 for a solid oak buffet.

But no one was interested. We didn’t get a single call.

Someone suggested that we list everything for $1. The idea they said, was that they’re basically getting it for nothing but people feel better about it if they pay something. So we tried that. Would you believe we didn’t get one single response to that either??

We really needed to get rid of this furniture.

So we decided to give it away and we listed it for FREE.

Well, that got some response!

My phone blew up. I got calls. And texts. And emails.

Everyone wanted something!

What I love the most about what happened next are the stories.

There was a college student who wanted the glass-topped coffee table. He came to pick it up in an old 4 door Corolla-type car, packed to the headliner with all kinds of stuff. When we asked how he was going to get it in there, he said he was going to tie it to the roof. That would be a 4-foot, 30-pound, 3/4-inch thick piece of beveled glass tied to the top of his car with a rope! Mr. Redoux explained to him how that glass would just slide right off the car and shatter all over the street. So he helped him take everything out of his car. 2 full-sized stereo speakers. A sleeping bag. Two jack stands. 1-gallon water bottles — empty and full. Boxes — empty and full. And a lot more. They put it all on the driveway. Then Mr. Redoux loaded the glass and the iron base into his car. It was now up to the guy to pack everything back into that car. And you know what? He actually did it! He worked on it for about a half an hour and then he drove away with that treasure and the biggest smile on his face. And 2 jugs of water and an empty box still sitting on our driveway…

There was the woman who worked at the olive oil store. Her daughter had to move in with her and was going to sleep on her porch. The loveseat sofa bed was perfect for her. But she couldn’t come until after 5:00 when she got off work. Would we please hold it for her??

Of course we would!

And the guy who wanted the oak buffet because he was fixing up a little apartment for his elderly friend and it was just what she needed for storage and to put her TV on…

The only item we actually did sell was the 1970’s vintage pool table.

The guy who bought that owns a business in Hollywood. He moved there from the midwest in the ‘70’s. He didn’t have any money so he paid for his trip out here by hustling pool on tables just like this one. Now he finally has a place where he can put a pool table and he wanted a vintage one to remind him of the leaner times in his life.

Then there was the older couple who lived on a ranch 50 miles away. They wanted the white sofa. They had to go borrow a truck from their brother-in-law. It would take some time. Could we please wait until they could be there at 4:00 and please don’t give it to anyone else???

Of course we would wait!

When she saw the sofa she was so excited! She said it looked even better in person than it did online. Mr. Redoux and ‘Mr. Buffet Guy’ loaded it into their borrowed truck. She put the pillows and cushions inside the truck because they were ‘too nice to put in the back’.

She thanked me and hugged me. Twice. She had tears in her eyes.

Later that evening she called me and told me how perfect that white sofa was in her house. And she thanked me again with a ‘God bless you!’.

So we gave away a lot of furniture that week.

Was it a lot of work? Yes.

Was it a little inconvenient? Yes.

But I learned two important things from that experience:

First, what I think is old, out of style and unattractive might just be a total blessing to someone else.

Second, everyone has a story.

And if you get to play a positive part in that story — it’s priceless.

So don’t pass up the chance to pay it forward.

Trust me, it’ll do your heart good!